How To Cook A Turkey – Moist, Fall Off The Bone Baked Turkey

Turkey is delicious during any time of the year, but it is often eaten during the holidays. You don’t have to spend all day fretting over the turkey and waiting for it to be finished cooking to know if it will taste delicious or be moist if you use this very easy to follow recipe.

Moist, Fall Off The Bone Baked Turkey

Moist turkey is truly the only way to eat a turkey.If it is moist without gravy,then it is one good turkeyand that’s exactly what this recipe will give you.First, take the turkey out of the wrapper.Inspect the whole thing to make sure there are no abnormalities.Isn’t it pretty…well, you know, in a naked turkey kind of way.

Remove the turkey’s legs from the plastic clip.Don’t ruin the plastic clipand you don’t have to completely separate it from the bird.Just take the legs out of it.

Inside the cavity of the turkey,you will find a bag of innards such as the liver and heart.Take the bag out.

You will also find the turkey neck.Be sure to pull it out too.Do not discard all this stuff!

Now turn the cold water on high and rinse the turkey.Fill the cavity full of water and rinse the innards too.

Let the water drain from the turkey while you prepare the pan.In a large roasting pan,line the bottom with a large sliced onion.

Now comes the really fun part…It’s the artistic part of cooking a turkey.Use the prettiest bay leaves you have in the container.

Carefully separate the turkey skin from the breast meatusing your fingertips to avoid ripping the skin.Softly and gently separate.That’s the key to prevent the ripping of the skin.

Very carefully arrange the bay leaves between the skin and breast meat.You can make a design or just lay them under the skin.Can you see the bay leaf?

Now put a bay leaf inside the cavity on one end and…

a couple bay leaves in the other end.

Cut an onion in quarters and put it inside the turkey cavity.

In a separate bowl combine pepper,

salt,

dried parsley,

basil,

thyme,

garlic,

cumin,

and ground celery seed.

Pat most of the mixture all over the outside of the turkey.

I took the onion out of the cavity and sprinkled the restof the spice mixture inside the turkey.

Looks good already doesn’t it?

Now add the chicken broth to the pan around the turkey.

Peel off three medium size pieces of lemon zest.

Put one in the broth at one end of the turkey and

put the other two in the cavity at the other end or in the broth.

Seal the roasting pan base tightly with aluminum foil.

Put the lid on tightly.

Now bake.Tomorrow, I will show you what the turkey looks likewhen it comes out of the ovenand I will also show you how to make gravy.I know…shame on me for making you wait,but there are just so many picturesthat I have to divide it into two days!

Remove the turkey’s legs from the plastic clip. Don’t ruin the plastic clip and you don’t have to completely separate it from the bird. Just take the legs out of it. Now inside the cavity of the turkey, you will find a bag of innards such as the liver and heart.

Take the bag out of the turkey cavity. You will also find the turkey neck. Be sure to pull it out too. Do not discard all this stuff!

Now turn the cold water on high and rinse the turkey. Fill the cavity full of water and rinse the innards too. Let the water drain from the turkey while you prepare the pan.

In a large roasting pan, line the bottom with a large sliced onion.

Now comes the really fun part…It’s the artistic part of cooking a turkey. Use the prettiest bay leaves you have in the container. Add bay leaves under the skin

Carefully separate the turkey skin from the breast meat using your fingertips to avoid ripping the skin. Softly and gently separate. That’s the key to prevent the ripping of the skin.

Very carefully arrange the bay leaves between the skin and breast meat. You can make a design or just lay them under the skin. Now put a bay leaf inside the cavity on one end and a couple bay leaves in the other end.

Cut an onion in quarters and put it inside the turkey cavity.

In a separate bowl combine pepper, salt, dried parsley, basil, thyme, garlic, cumin, and ground celery seed. Pat most of the mixture all over the outside of the turkey.

I took the onion out of the cavity and sprinkled the rest of the spice mixture inside the turkey.

Now add the chicken broth to the pan around the turkey. Peel off three medium size pieces of lemon zest. Put one in the broth at one end of the turkey and put the other two in the cavity at the other end or in the broth.

Seal the roasting pan base tightly with aluminum foil. Put the lid on tightly. Bake in a preheated 450 degree Fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and cook until done – approximately 4 hours for a 21 pound turkey. Do not peek or open the aluminum foil. Just trust me and bake it 12 minutes per pound. .

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Sherry Riter is also known as The Redhead Riter. Sherry is witty, intelligent and addictive as she writes about cooking, family, marriage, failures, blogging tips, art, humor, inspiration, travel, PTSD and aging.
Her goal is to inspire, motivate, educate and to make her audience laugh. Sherry embraces being a redhead and helps others to see the redhead point of view…"In some eras redheads were worshipped while others thought us witches. Personally, I like the former and think every day is 'Love a redhead day!'" She can also be found on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Linkedin, tweeting as @TheRedheadRiter and you can subscribe to her free blog feed.

PERFECT!!! I have always been intimidated by the idea of cooking a whole turkey. My first attempt, using the package instructions, turned out dry and lacked flavor. Today I tried your version and I feel like Martha Stewart. Everything is just as you said it would be and I am so pleased. Thank you!

I made this turkey today. It was my turn to cook. I was so scared my mom and sisters would be disappointed. I followed the directions exactly. It was delicious. Everyone commented at how wonderful it tasted and how juicy it was. I felt so good. Thank you so much for posting this recipe and saving my Thanksgiving.

I don’t stuff my bird Jessica, but I’m sure you can put stuffing in it. The big thing about it though is that the meat is going to “fall off the bone” so there won’t be anything holding the stuffing in after your baked it all.

So, I’m planning to use your turkey cooking instructions to make my first turkey. I have some questions.
1) My roasting pan doesn’t have a cover. If I just cover it tightly with foil will it be OK? Should I cover it twice?
2) I have a wire rack to set my turkey on. Should I use it, or should I place it directly on the onions & broth?
3) Many turkey cooking instructions recommend letting it rest for approx. 30 minutes after removing it from the oven and before cutting the turkey. What do you recommend?
Thanks!

Sorry I have been away from my computer for a few days, Jill. Let me answer your questions for future reference:
1) You can cover the pan with foil and you don’t need to do it twice.
2) Set the turkey directly on the onions and don’t use a rack in the roaster.
3) This is not a “carving” turkey. The meat will fall off the bone, so it doesn’t matter if you let it rest or not.

Sorry I’m a little confused – you said to put the onion in the cavity but then when you spread the seasonings on – you said I took the onion out. Do you put the onions back in then?
Thanks this sounds delicious – i’m trying it tomorrow

I just wanted to say thank you for this recipe!! I followed it exactly although I did brine it over night. Anyhow, my family raved that this was the best turkey they had every eaten. The flavor was absolutely wonderful and it was sooo moist. My sister who wont eat turkey was pounding this down like she hadn’t eaten in years. I usually wont eat white meat but I almost preferred it. I printed this out and added it to my cookbook so we can enjoy it for years to come. I thought about using this to roast my chicken but I just don’t want it to loose its “wow”… I think I enjoy the responses almost as much as the turkey lol. Anyhow thanks again!

Hello! I made a post including healthy delicious Thanksgiving recipes. I thought you would like to know that I included your Turkey recipe. If you would like to check out the post please go to my website, It is under Munchy Monday, or if you scroll to the bottom of my home page you can see my recent posts. Look for “How to stay healthy this Thanksgiving.”
Thank you, Have a wonderful day!

Hello Sherry,
I’m so excited to do this recipe, Thanksgiving is at my house for the first tme, I was scared of a dry turkey glad I bumped into your blog, also I have a question when did you take your the frozen turkey, how long you left it out before you started to season it also did you brine it first? So sorry for all the questions just very nervous about messing it ip. My turkey is 12.87 lbs.
Thank you

I take my turkey out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator 2 days before Thanksgiving. Then depending on how big the turkey is and how frozen it still is the day before Thanksgiving, I put it in a sink full of cold water to unthaw all the way. 🙂

I’m so anxious to get started! I just need to ask about the plastic part. You said not to take it completely out? So do I leave it in the turkey as it’s cooking? It feels like a dumb question but I would rather ask then make a dumb move! Lol! Thank u so much for saving us rooky 1st timers!!!

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipe and all the pictures – I am so excited to make this tomorrow my mouth is watering!!! I’ve got a monster bird, 26+ pounds – I should have butchered a few weeks ago but didn’t realize how big she was getting!! So I was concerned about the very best way to not have the meat be tough.I was planning on brining but read some about the downsides and decided against it. Have you ever brined? Sounds like you lose some in texture and flavor of the meat that way… I’ve been aging in fridge since Monday, and am hopeful your recipe will do the trick. Thanks again!!

My sister is telling me no bag is a guaranteed dry turkey! Grrrr I did everything right and its sitting in the fridge now. My only concern now is that I think it’s a 13-15lb turkey and I didn’t cut the recipe in half!! It’ll be okay right? I MUST PROVE MY SISTER WRONG! Lol

This is the most flavorful and moist turkey’s I have ever cooked. I put the dry seasoning in the the cavity before putting in the onions. Cooked mine in a electric roaster over, didn’t brown but who cares it was so delicious. Roasted a little faster than in a regular oven, 18.4# turkey reached 150 degrees in a little less than 2 1/2 hours, I reduced heat to 170 degrees and cooked for another 1 1/2 hours and took out when temp reached 175 degrees. Let sit for about 15 minutes then carved it. Easiest carve I have ever done, followed Alton Brown’s easy way. I can’t say enough about great it was.

Hi! I’m not sure I understand the cooking time. On one of your reply’s you said “yes, 12 minutes per pound. The 30 minutes at the the higher temperature is included in the total cooking time.”

Someone else asked you ” should I bake it at 450 for 30 minutes and then after that bake it 12 minutes per pound (4 hours)?”.
So are you saying a total of 4 hours plus 30 minutes total cooking time or 3&1/2 hours plus the 30 minutes of total cooking time? Thank you!

I read all the reviews & the turkey sounds great. Going to try it this thanksgiving. I just have one question. Do you remove the bay leaves from under the skin after cooking? Hope this isn’t a silly question! Thank you in advance!

Hey! I’m making two small turkeys for thanksgiving this year, and I’m thinking about making one of them according to your recipe.. that way no one will be disappointed AND I get to try this out 😀 but I’m also thinking.. what if you want the turkey super moist but not completely FALL OFF BONE moist, is that what I get if I follow this recipe but reduce the cooking time with, say, one hour?

Hi, I followed your recipe and have my turkey in the oven right now. I wanted a moist, tender turkey on the inside but my family likes crisper skin. Is there a way to “finish it off” by perhaps increasing the temp at the end and removing the foil? If not, maybe I can just remove the wings and deep fry them? I like the breast so I’m all good. Just trying to please everyone

Hmm I don’t know what happened to my comment, I’ll write a shorter one: if I only want the turkey ALMOST “fall off bone moist”, can I reduce the cooking time?:) follow the recipe but just reduce with, say, one hour? I want to be able to cut pieces out so not entirely fall off bone moist.. is that possible?:)

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